Monday, April 13, 2015

6 Hurt in Riots When Illegally Built Home is Demolished in Israeli Arab Town

Israeli
authorities were faced with a full-scale riot late Sunday night after being sent to demolish an illegally-built home in the Israeli
Arab town of Kafr Kanna.

Security forces
were already prepared, however, to back up the demolition crew that had been ordered to
level the home that was built without a required legal building permit.

It's a problem
that is not new to Israel, and particularly to dealings with the
Israeli Arab and Bedouin populations. There have at times been
similar issues with Jewish community “start ups” in
Judea and Samaria too.

Late Sunday night,
Israel Police and Border Guard officers sealed off the neighborhood
and then evacuated the targeted home of Tariq al-Khatib, according to
Arab media and the Hebrew-language newspaper Yediot Acharonot. Family
members at the scene were quoted by media as vowing to the police
officers, “You destroyed the home, and we will rebuild it.”

But riots broke
out in the wake of the demolition, leading to clashes with Nazareth
district security personnel that left at least six residents with
injuries, including Mujahed Awawdeh, head of the local town council.

Police used tear
gas, stun grenades and finally, rubber bullets to disperse the
swelling mob. Security personnel were deployed at the entrance to
Kafr Kanna following the incident to ensure that no protesters
attempted to block traffic on the nearby roads.

A general strike
by the town's residents was declared Monday in response to the
demolition, which Khatib insisted was unjust.

“I built on land
that I inherited,” he said. “The state has no right to demolish
the home and even if they destroy it 100 times I will rebuild it...

“Where else can
we live? We have no roof over our heads. Instead of helping the Arab
citizens, the country is trying to drive us out,” he ranted.

But in his tirade
Khatib did not address the fact that he just plain failed to obtain a
legal building permit to build the home. In the State of Israel, one
requires that permit for construction anywhere in the country for any
reason.

Nor did he
acknowledge the fact that in all Israeli Arab towns, as well as Druze
towns and legally recognized Bedouin towns and villages, all homes
are now built with legal permits in accordance with Israeli building
codes.

Kafr Kanna is no
exception. Israeli Arab homes are not exempt from the laws that also
apply to Israeli Jewish homes, Israeli Druze homes, Israeli
Circassian homes or Israeli Christian homes. There is good reason for
this.

Such homes are
also built these days with a “mamad” – a bomb shelter –
automatically included within the housing unit, regardless of whether
it is an apartment or a single or multi-family dwelling. Parameters
for the construction of a secure mamad are very specific and detailed
– and woe to the contractor who fails to meet them. Engineers are
required to inspect the work to ensure the family living within will
be protected properly.

Requiring proper
construction standards in order to ensure the safety of her citizens
is not a sign that Israel is trying to “drive out” its Arab
residents. It's a sign of caring enough to make sure that they, too,
are protected.

Trying to cut
corners to avoid the admittedly cumbersome and ugly process of having
to obtain a building permit via the endless Israeli bureaucracy is
not an answer.

Yelling “Allahu
Akbar” and screaming that the police are “terrorists” because
they back up the demolition crew and protect them from a mob that
gathers to stop them from doing their job is, frankly, ridiculous. It is also disgraceful behavior by those who should know better.

Kafr Kanna is a northern Israeli town of some 20,000, is located in the Tur'an Valley, in Galilee. It is believed to exist on the site of the New Testament village of Cana, where the founder of Christianity was reported to have transformed water into wine. In the 17th century CE, in fact, the village was officially recognized by the Vatican and the pope of that era confirmed that Kafr Kanna is indeed Cana of the Galilee. At that point, the village was added to the list of Christian holy sites. It also appears on the Israel Ministry of Tourism website as well.

People who live on the site of a town of such veneration should at least try to measure up to the history of their locale, if not surpass it.